Key Figure At Google Pushing For UK Launch Of Trusted Stores Service

A leading figure at search engine giant Google is pushing for a UK launch of its popular Trusted Stores program.

John Gillian is optimistic the scheme could take off in the UK, but has acknowledged any such release would not be an overnight process.

Google UK industry retailer leader, John Gillian, said: "We launched in the U.S. last year and thousands of retailers have joined in. I'm championing to get it launched in the UK on a test basis with a few retailers later this year.

"It's good for SMEs in particular to help build up brand loyalty. One firm Beaucoup, which sells flowers online, saw an eight percent improvement in online engagement once it had the Trusted Stores badge on its site."

Originally started in the US as a pilot in October 2011, Trusted Stores aimed at alleviating online consumers fears on the reliability and security of the sites they were using to make their purchases over the Internet - boosting the user experience of participating sites.

The Google Trusted Stores logo appears on the bottom right hand side of a website participating in the scheme with a pop up box then informing customers of the sites alphabetically graded score on topics such as shipping and service.

For example, a site with great ratings on shipping times would hope to achieve a grade A, whereas a site guilty of some poor customer service recently might see a D grade.

Of course, the scores are averaged out so users actually see the overall percentage of products arriving on time, or what percentage of customers had their issue resolved within two working days.

Speaking at the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst conference in London, Gillian added: "I would love to launch Trusted Stores today, but it's a lengthy process."

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